TSA's Gateside Pilot Opens DFW, OKC, Phoenix-Area Gates

If you've ever had to say goodbye to a departing relative at the curb, or waited outside security for an elderly parent who needs help finding a gate, a new federal program launched this week is worth knowing about, especially if you regularly use Dallas Fort Worth, Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World, or the Phoenix area's Mesa Gateway airport. On September 8, the Transportation Security Administration rolled out Gateside by TSA PreCheck, a pilot that lets people without a boarding pass go through security and into the terminal to meet arriving passengers, see off departing ones, or simply eat and shop past the checkpoint, a practice that was routine before 9/11 and has been gone from nearly every US airport since. The pilot covers 13 airports nationwide, and three of them sit inside the Southwest: DFW in Texas, Will Rogers World in Oklahoma City, and Mesa Gateway (AZA) in the Phoenix metro area. The other ten are spread across California, Nevada, Utah, Ohio, Michigan, Kansas, Indiana, Arkansas and Nebraska. Here's how it works, and where the fine print matters. Gateside is open only to TSA PreCheck members or anyone else holding a Known Traveler Number through a trusted-traveler program like Global Entry. You cannot just show up; you need to apply through TSA's Gateside portal at tsa.gov, logging in with, or creating, a login.gov account, entering your Known Traveler Number and personal details that match your PreCheck record exactly, then waiting for approval, which TSA says takes one to three days. Passes are free and good for one calendar day, with re-entry allowed if you need to leave and come back, but you cannot use the speedier Touchless ID lanes, and each airport sets its own daily cap on passes, so approval is not guaranteed just because you meet the basic eligibility. For the Southwest specifically, the airport list is worth studying closely, because it is narrower than travelers might assume. DFW is now the only Gateside airport in Texas, which means Houston's Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, Austin-Bergstrom, San Antonio and Dallas Love Field are not included yet, so a family greeting a returning service member at IAH or seeing a college student off from AUS still has to wait at the curb for now. Arizona has the same pattern: Mesa Gateway, a smaller airport east of Phoenix that serves as a base for low-cost carriers like Allegiant, is in the pilot, but Phoenix Sky Harbor, the region's dominant hub, and Tucson International are not. Oklahoma's Will Rogers World in Oklahoma City made the cut, but Tulsa did not. New Mexico has no airport in the initial 13 at all. So what should you actually do? If a trip through DFW, Will Rogers World or Mesa Gateway involves meeting someone at the gate, walking an elderly relative to their boarding area, or a long layover you would rather spend with family than apart, apply through TSA's Gateside portal as soon as you know your dates, since the one-to-three-day review window means you cannot walk up and expect same-day approval. Build in the possibility of a denial, too; because each airport caps daily passes, applying earlier rather than closer to your visit improves your odds of getting one. If your Southwest trip runs through any other regional airport, do not plan around Gateside access being available; TSA has said it intends to expand the pilot to more airports in the coming months but has not named which ones or when, so treat curbside goodbyes as the default until your specific airport shows up on an updated list. And if you do get an approved pass, remember you are still subject to the same security screening and conduct rules as a ticketed passenger, and the pass does not guarantee access to a connecting family member's specific gate or concourse, so it is worth confirming details with the airport directly before you plan around it. For a region built around long family road trips, military bases and college towns spread far from the nearest major airport, having even three Southwest airports back in the business of letting people escort loved ones to the gate is a real, if narrow, change worth knowing about this fall. Sources Texas airport now allows friends and family to walk travelers to gate - Austin CultureMap - https://austin.culturemap.com/news/travel/gateside-access-dfw-airport/ DFW joins TSA's pilot program to allow non-ticketed PreCheck members gate access - KERA News - https://www.keranews.org/transportation/2026-09-08/dfw-joins-tsas-pilot-program-allow-non-ticketed-precheck-members-gate-access TSA brings back gate access for unticketed people in DFW, 12 other airports - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/tsa-brings-back-gate-access-for-unticketed-people-in-dfw-12-other-airports/4074040/ Gateside by TSA PreCheck - Transportation Security Administration - https://www.tsa.gov/precheck/gateside-tsa-precheck